Both of California's senators have joined the call for a rapid investigation after an F/A-18 Hornet crash that killed four people this week in San Diego.
Young Mi Yoon, 36; her daughters Grace, 15 months, and Rachel, 2 months, and her mother, Suk Im Kim, 60, were killed shortly before noon when the jet came down. Two homes were destroyed and three others damaged in the crash. Four vehicles were burned.
U.S. Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein wrote to Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Conway Wednesday, demanding a a swift investigation into the causes of the crash.
"We understand that the Marine Corps is conducting an investigation into the crash and we ask that it be completed as swiftly as possible and that the results be made immediately available to the public," the joint letter stated. "It is our hope that you will also conduct a full review of the F/A-18D fleet to ensure that other aircraft are not prone to similar problems."
The senators also urged the miliary to do whatever it could to assist the families affected by the crash an offered to aid the Marine Corps in any way they could in providing them with aid.
On Tuesday, Rep. Duncan Hunter, the ranking Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, called on the Marine Corps to release the maintenance records of all its F/A-18D Hornet fighters.
He also said the fiery crash apparently was caused by power failure and was likely unrelated to the previous discovery of cracks in hinges on the wings of more than a dozen of the $57-million aircraft.
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It is important that we gain a complete understanding of what went wrong," Hunter said.
Marine Cpl. Travis Easter said officials at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, where the plane was trying to land, had no immediate response to the request for maintenance records.
